A fantastic double flower makes this cultivar truly spectacular!
First bloom! January 2021
The delicate star-fished shaped leaves got pretty beat up in transit. November 2021
When I first saw this beautiful cultivar listed for sale on California Carnivores website, I knew I was in trouble. Although I have kept my Pinguicula gigantea and Pinguicula gigantea x laueana happy and well on my windowsill for many years, I was hesitant to spend "so much money" on a Pinguicula. (*Note - It was listed for an amount that I consider only "mid-range" for a Nepenthes! Priorities are funny sometimes). I had also never grown warm-temperate butterworts before and I was sure that buying the most expensive cultivar right out the gate was risky, especially since my track record with other temperate species remains at 0 to 3 (RIP gifted venus flytraps...).
I kept returning to the website and finally caved. The poor plant arrived in pretty rough shape despite California Carnivores' excellent packaging. The brittle star-shaped leaves are just so fragile! With shaking hands I nervously potted it up into a standard Pinguicula potting mix and tried to not do too much damage with my seemingly gigantic fingers. I had read multiple accounts that primuliflora could be picky about its water levels, some saying it should be nearly completely submerged at all times while others contesting the need for occasional dry outs. I decided to grow it identical to my other two Pings and hope for the best.
Although the plant sulked for most of December, new growth started in earnest after the Winter Solstice. To my delight, the plant rewarded me with multiple blooms in January! I am considering cutting back some of them to force the plant to focus on forming new leaves, but the rosette looks very healthy now. Crossing fingers for lots of plantlets to share!
The Pinguicula primuliflora "Rose" cultivar was registered to the ICPS in 2000 by Mitsuaki Ban, who found this unusual flower among the primuliflora in his cold frames. The original plant appears to be a spontaneous individual mutation. Wild insects successfully pollinated about 30% of the flowers and Mitsuaki reports seeing double flowered primuliflora among the unexpected seedlings as well. After cultivating it and determining it was a stable mutation, Mitsuaki submitted the "Rose" for publication, only to find that another double flowered primuliflora mutant was submitted by Satoru Ishizaka. The Ishizaka mutants appear to be completely separate in origin from Mitsuaki's and have only two rows of petals in the flower (the "Rose" cultivar consistently has three or more rows of petals, giving it a very heavy pom-pom like appearance).
Current Growing Conditions: South-Facing Living Room Window Light: ~260 - 460 PPFD or 16530 - 20110 Lux (depends on the weather outside) Humidity: ~80% night and 55% day Temperature: ~68F night and 90F day (depends on weather outside) Water: Keep ~1/4" of water in the tray, occasionally flush from above Potting Mix: 50% peat and 50% sand/perlite - re-pot fresh media every year! Fertilizer: MaxSea (1/4 tsp/gallon) once a month as foliar spray Additional Notes: Appears to be a robust grower so far!